How perfect should pebble fina come out.

[bjharrington]

We just completed a 5 1/2 month “remodel” of our pool. The PB ended up having to rip out everything except the spa and start over-Hence the quotes around remodel. It is a long and painful story.

At any rate, the PebbleTec pebble fina (Grigio) was completed about 3 weeks ago and i have issues with some of the finishing work:

1. There are trowel marks where the tanning ledge meets the edge of the pool. The PB says that is normal. Is it?

2. The ledge itself is not level. We have 2 bubblers and the pebble fina is sloped going up to it. There is an approximate 1/2” difference. Normal or not?

3. There is streaking in the finish. Will this go away over time?

I am trying to not be too OCD, but dang this was a very expensive job and i expect perfection.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[bjharrington]

We just completed a 5 1/2 month “remodel” of our pool. The PB ended up having to rip out everything except the spa and start over-Hence the quotes around remodel. It is a long and painful story.

At any rate, the PebbleTec pebble fina (Grigio) was completed about 3 weeks ago and i have issues with some of the finishing work:

1. There are trowel marks where the tanning ledge meets the edge of the pool. The PB says that is normal. Is it?

2. The ledge itself is not level. We have 2 bubblers and the pebble fina is sloped going up to it. There is an approximate 1/2” difference. Normal or not?

3. There is streaking in the finish. Will this go away over time?

I am trying to not be too OCD, but dang this was a very expensive job and i expect perfection.

Thanks for any replies.

Pics of the failed structure and the new pool.

 

[bjharrington]

Finished Pool.

 

[GregInClaremont]

Hi, nice looking pool! I'm a relative newb with pools in general but I just went through the selection process and they just finished my Pebble this morning, water going in now.

I went and toured 3 yards with my builder of some of his past customers when we were deciding color and I did notice one pool had what I might call "streaking" mainly in the areas near the drain covers and a couple inside corners. What I was seeing was the prominent blue Pebble color( in that mix) was very noticeable in these areas. My builder explained that sometimes that can happen in those areas because it's a hand trowled product and the areas with curves, rolls, or corners can sometimes expose more than in others. It was a little noticeable because we were really looking at it closely but I don't know I would have caught that otherwise.

Hopefully someone else can give you some input in it or help you with your other concerns.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Why don't you read through this thread as it will give you some ideas of what poor plaster can do -

Diagnosing Pool Plaster Problems

Plaster application is as much of an art as it is a science. There are certainly "best practices" out there and experienced plaster companies will do their best to make a customer happy. But, like many trades, plasterers are independent contractors that get "licensed" by the product supplier. So there is always going to be a tension between what the product manufacturers says ("PebbleTec says to do steps W, X, Y & Z, in that exact order....) versus what the applicator is used to doing ("Those knuckleheads at PebbleTec are full of it, you can totally do W, then Y, leave out X and wait ten days before doing Z...."). There are certainly best practices in the art of troweling and how to know what environmental conditions to avoid (rain, excessive heat, etc) and a well established plaster applicator will know what's best for your environment.

At the end of the day, no plaster job is perfect, ever. You will notice things and get hung up on things that 99% of your friends and family won't care about. So, just like bringing children into this world, you have to be willing to live with some weirdness and learn to love what you have. Gross defects in workmanship can and should be handled on the spot. Minor variations and "birthmarks" should be taken with a grain of salt...

 

[Jimrahbe]

Matt,

That was a perfect response!!!

I should know, because I have plenty of "birthmarks"... Me, not my pool...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[bjharrington]

Hi, nice looking pool! I'm a relative newb with pools in general but I just went through the selection process and they just finished my Pebble this morning, water going in now.

I went and toured 3 yards with my builder of some of his past customers when we were deciding color and I did notice one pool had what I might call "streaking" mainly in the areas near the drain covers and a couple inside corners. What I was seeing was the prominent blue Pebble color( in that mix) was very noticeable in these areas. My builder explained that sometimes that can happen in those areas because it's a hand trowled product and the areas with curves, rolls, or corners can sometimes expose more than in others. It was a little noticeable because we were really looking at it closely but I don't know I would have caught that otherwise.

Hopefully someone else can give you some input in it or help you with your other concerns.

Thanks Greg.

The streakiness actually went away after about 45 days.

I guess it had to cure.